Abstract

Liquid–liquid separations based on countercurrent chromatography, in which at least one phase contains an ionic liquid, represent a new empirical approach for the separation of organic, inorganic, or bio-based materials. A custom-designed instrument has been developed and constructed specifically to perform separations (including transition metal salts, arenes, alkenes, alkanes, and sugars) with ionic liquids, and has been demonstrated for use on the 0.1 to 10 g scale.